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Trees are safe

I READ with interest the letter from Ray Taylor in last week’s edition headlined ‘Unsuitable tree’, in which he claimed that the 13 fig trees on Russell Road in Madeley posed a threat to people and property.

I assure Mr Taylor that this is not the case.

These 13 trees have a 1/500,000 Quantified Tree Risk Assessment rating. According to a Kings Park arborist, a measure of 1/10,000 is a broadly acceptable level of risk.

In most cases, this level would be acceptable in Kings Park with its high-volume traffic.

The Russell Road fig trees are 1/500,000. This means they present 50 times less risk than most trees in Kings Park.

Trees with a 1/500,000 rating have a low and remote risk and require almost no attention.

The QTRA system covers everything that could be considered a risk ” for example, branches or berries hurting property or people, roots damaging property, any road or pedestrian traffic being affected.

The City of Wanneroo’s administration took all of this into account when they gave these trees a near-to-negligible rating.

To quote the council’s independent arboricultural consultant, these 13 trees are all in ‘good health and predominantly in a mechanically sound structural condition’.

If Mr Taylor would like to see a copy of this report, I’d be more than happy to pass it on.